Valarne
11-24-2008, 01:29 PM
Tournament Report – Legacy Grand Tournament (the Danish Legacy Nationals, though not named as such).
82 players.
Me running my version of the Deadguy Ale archtype, finishing top 8. Named it Deadguy Angel, for the sake of creativity.
List:
4 Wasteland
3 Windswept Heath
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scrubland
1 Volraths Stronghold
3 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Exalted Angel
4 Dark Confidant (Bob)
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Thoughtseize
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Gerrards Verdict
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
3 Swords to Plowshares (STP
3 Senseis Divining Top (SDT)
4 Chrome Mox
SB:
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Relic of Progenitus (RoP)
3 Engineered Explosives (EE)
Thoughts on maindeck and sideboard choices before the tournament:
I had chosen to run a heavy discard package, especially focused on beating ANT decks. Besides this I was really happy with Gerrards Verdicts 2for1 and potential lifegain to complement Hymn, and especially when facing tough matchups like Zoo and Burn. I had chosen Jotun Grunt instead of Nantuko Shade, Hypnotic Specter or Tombstalker. Shade I never want to use my mana on, rather on unmorphing or disrupting. Specter felt like a card that did too little too late – and running 12 discard, it was an easy choice to let Specter go. Tombstalkers high cmc is too much for what it does, when playing Confidant. I’d much rather go with Angels, that race some aggro, and replenishes my life, even if I’m unlucky with the Confidant.
I chose to play only 3 STP, and I was in doubt about this, but decided on going all-aboard with hand/land disruption.
In the side I went with playsets Ghostly Prison, RoP, Chalice and 3 copies of EE.
Prisons were meant for aggro in general and Zoo/Ichorid in particular, which can be tough matchups. Relic of Progenitus were my alllround gravehate, against Ichorid, Loam, Thresh and so forth. Chalice was for ANT in particular. Engineered Explosives was thought to be an allround answer to stuff like Grindstone, Ichorid and Counterbalance.
Round 1 – Ichorid
A pretty awful matchup preboard, but the combination of him mulling a couple of times, and me getting a Jotun Grunt online very fast, meant, that I in the end could seal the deal with an Angel. Game 2 I can’t really remember, but from my notes I can see that I had an Angel beating down from around turn 3-4. I think he had a couple of tokens, but I also had an EE ready to blow up, so it was all under control.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 – CounterSlivers
While shuffling the judge approaches, and takes my adversary aside. It turns out he had made a mistake of forgetting the 60th card somewhere, so I auto-won game 1. Game 2 I’m under some pressure by Crystalline, Sinew, Muscle. I was a bit faster than him, though, and my lovely Exalted Angel raced him. One important play was Verdicting two Slivers from his hand (last two cards in his hand).
Record: 2-0
Round 3 – Affinity
Feels like a bad matchup, all in all. Game 1 I get swarmed and it ends quickly. I board in Ghostly Prisons and maybe a couple of EE, cutting down on discard I think. Next game I manage to disrupt a lot, and an early Angel makes it unfair. Game 3: Afterwards I felt that I should have mulled more aggressively for Ghostly Prison, since he hadnt seen it yet, and it might win by it self. I didn’t do this though, and much like game 1, I was swarmed.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 – White Staxless Stax.
First game he goes Chalice for 1, then Trinisphere, and Exalted. No chance in this game.
I don’t board anything, since I feel that my main should be ok in this matchup. I thoughtseize a Suppression Field, and keep him of his land, securing beatdown with Confidant and Grunt, beating for 6, ending it in a jiffy. Game 3 starts out somewhat even, but I manage to Vindicate his most annoying artifacts, and make beats with an Angel, only contested by a Windborn Muse.
Record: 3-1
Round 5 – Ichorid.
Amazingly, in yet another Ichorid matchup, I win game 1. I knew he was playing this, so I now which hands to hold and which to not. Luckily my opener has no discard really, but a Confidant and a Grunt. On his side of the table, he is dredging suboptimally, so I have time to remove his Bridges and Ichorids with my Grunt, and make beats. Game 2 I hold a decent hand with EE, and Grunt I think - both on the table when he got his second or third turn where he went bananas with tokens and haste. I was tapped, which was probably a play-error, underestimating his token-speed.
Game 3, turn 1 - I start with RoP, EE and I think a Confidant. I hold his lands away with Sinkhole, and theres no contest. Angel for the finish.
Record: 4-1
Round 6 - UBg Aggro Control/Team America
This was, I thought, the key game, because I wasn’t expecting anyone with 2 losses, to go to the top 8. Depressingly, I got run over very fast. Both games were quite similar. He gets Goyf and Tombstalker online too fast, and he manages to keep me off mana to produce effective plays in time. It felt like a really tough matchup, with beaters larger than mine, and stuff like Daze that combined with landdestruction, really hurts. I boarded in RoP, and maybe I should have mulled for it, but my opening hand game 2 seemed quite good.
Record: 4-2
Round 7 – UG Painter combo/Goyf
This last game I was playing against a friendly guy I know – and I thought he was playing Stiflenought. Maybe he was, but I never saw any. We chose to play competetively, since we had heard that there was a remote possibility for one of us to go on. First game I can’t really remember, but I can see that he conceded at around 14, so I probably had his ressources down. I remember having something like SDT, Bob, Grunt and Angel ready to swing. Game 2 felt tight. He threw out an early Grindstone, which I hadn’t seen game 1 at all. He put down a Goyf an started beating, while producing lands. On my side I had a Confidant online, and started to find answers, such as an EE on 2 that was also keeping his Painter from the table. At some point I exploded the EE, because the Goyf was giving me trouble, while wasting a land, so he couldnt play Painter and mill. I had a Vindicate in hand, and drew into a STP, so from there I had it sealed. As far as I remember, he played 3 Goyfs, after I exploded the first – here RoP really shined. Angel made the actually win happen.
Record: 5-2 (I was the only one with 15 pts to qualify for the top 8)
Quarter – BGW Rock
In the quarter I met the guy with the 7-0 record, and a lot of very good tournament results to his name (Peter Steinaa if you’re curious). He actually continued his record and won the tournament in 10-0 style.
This was obviously gonna be tough, but it also alleviated some of the stress, to be in the absolute underdog position (me being reasonably new to tournaments).
First game was great for me. I lost the die roll, but Sinkholed his Treetop Village in my first turn, and wasted his next land, and from then on he never really recovered, and I finished it pretty fast, with two Confidants and an Angel. I made my first big mistake of the tournament here though, as I forgot to draw my normal card, after getting two from the two Confidants – this gave me a judge warning only, to my relief. After the first game I sided in only RoP, because a lot of his wins are due to Eternal Witnesses and Volraths Stronghold – and they are the key cards that make his deck superior to mine in the long games.
Game two I was looking at a hand with one fetch or Scrubland, a Chrome Mox, and lots of 2cc gas. He was to start, so I was a bit afraid of Thoughtseize, but I took the chance and kept the hand. Which I shouldn’t have done… He took the Mox on his first turn, and I was on my heels from that point on. Lost the game fast from there.
Game 3, properly spooked by game 2, I looked at a hand with a couple of Wastelands, 1 Hymn, and assorted lands too round it up. Even though I was to start, it felt too weak to trust, so I mulliganed. Catching 6 nonland cards, I mulliganed again, and found the best I could have hoped for; Scrubland, Thoughtseize, Hymn, Sinkhole and Wasteland I think. This gave me a fighting chance, but I still found myself on my heels throughout, and I lost after some time, which seemed inevitable most of the way.
A great day all in all with good people, drinking beer and wine the night before, talking about stuff that matters and having fun. Furthermore, encouraging much future tournament participation from my part.
The top 8 consisted of:
Deadguy (Me)
Zoo
MUC
Merfolks
Zoo (Semi)
Survival (Semi)
Rock (Winner)
Thresh (Runner-up)
Some post scriptum thoughts on the decklist and such:
Would’ve enjoyed the fourth Swords to Plowshares, instead of one Gerrards Verdict. Relic of Progenitus was nice to have as a versatile Goyf/Grave-hate, instead of Tormods Crypt and Leyline of the Void.
82 players.
Me running my version of the Deadguy Ale archtype, finishing top 8. Named it Deadguy Angel, for the sake of creativity.
List:
4 Wasteland
3 Windswept Heath
3 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scrubland
1 Volraths Stronghold
3 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Exalted Angel
4 Dark Confidant (Bob)
3 Jotun Grunt
4 Thoughtseize
4 Hymn to Tourach
4 Gerrards Verdict
4 Sinkhole
4 Vindicate
3 Swords to Plowshares (STP
3 Senseis Divining Top (SDT)
4 Chrome Mox
SB:
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Relic of Progenitus (RoP)
3 Engineered Explosives (EE)
Thoughts on maindeck and sideboard choices before the tournament:
I had chosen to run a heavy discard package, especially focused on beating ANT decks. Besides this I was really happy with Gerrards Verdicts 2for1 and potential lifegain to complement Hymn, and especially when facing tough matchups like Zoo and Burn. I had chosen Jotun Grunt instead of Nantuko Shade, Hypnotic Specter or Tombstalker. Shade I never want to use my mana on, rather on unmorphing or disrupting. Specter felt like a card that did too little too late – and running 12 discard, it was an easy choice to let Specter go. Tombstalkers high cmc is too much for what it does, when playing Confidant. I’d much rather go with Angels, that race some aggro, and replenishes my life, even if I’m unlucky with the Confidant.
I chose to play only 3 STP, and I was in doubt about this, but decided on going all-aboard with hand/land disruption.
In the side I went with playsets Ghostly Prison, RoP, Chalice and 3 copies of EE.
Prisons were meant for aggro in general and Zoo/Ichorid in particular, which can be tough matchups. Relic of Progenitus were my alllround gravehate, against Ichorid, Loam, Thresh and so forth. Chalice was for ANT in particular. Engineered Explosives was thought to be an allround answer to stuff like Grindstone, Ichorid and Counterbalance.
Round 1 – Ichorid
A pretty awful matchup preboard, but the combination of him mulling a couple of times, and me getting a Jotun Grunt online very fast, meant, that I in the end could seal the deal with an Angel. Game 2 I can’t really remember, but from my notes I can see that I had an Angel beating down from around turn 3-4. I think he had a couple of tokens, but I also had an EE ready to blow up, so it was all under control.
Record: 1-0
Round 2 – CounterSlivers
While shuffling the judge approaches, and takes my adversary aside. It turns out he had made a mistake of forgetting the 60th card somewhere, so I auto-won game 1. Game 2 I’m under some pressure by Crystalline, Sinew, Muscle. I was a bit faster than him, though, and my lovely Exalted Angel raced him. One important play was Verdicting two Slivers from his hand (last two cards in his hand).
Record: 2-0
Round 3 – Affinity
Feels like a bad matchup, all in all. Game 1 I get swarmed and it ends quickly. I board in Ghostly Prisons and maybe a couple of EE, cutting down on discard I think. Next game I manage to disrupt a lot, and an early Angel makes it unfair. Game 3: Afterwards I felt that I should have mulled more aggressively for Ghostly Prison, since he hadnt seen it yet, and it might win by it self. I didn’t do this though, and much like game 1, I was swarmed.
Record: 2-1
Round 4 – White Staxless Stax.
First game he goes Chalice for 1, then Trinisphere, and Exalted. No chance in this game.
I don’t board anything, since I feel that my main should be ok in this matchup. I thoughtseize a Suppression Field, and keep him of his land, securing beatdown with Confidant and Grunt, beating for 6, ending it in a jiffy. Game 3 starts out somewhat even, but I manage to Vindicate his most annoying artifacts, and make beats with an Angel, only contested by a Windborn Muse.
Record: 3-1
Round 5 – Ichorid.
Amazingly, in yet another Ichorid matchup, I win game 1. I knew he was playing this, so I now which hands to hold and which to not. Luckily my opener has no discard really, but a Confidant and a Grunt. On his side of the table, he is dredging suboptimally, so I have time to remove his Bridges and Ichorids with my Grunt, and make beats. Game 2 I hold a decent hand with EE, and Grunt I think - both on the table when he got his second or third turn where he went bananas with tokens and haste. I was tapped, which was probably a play-error, underestimating his token-speed.
Game 3, turn 1 - I start with RoP, EE and I think a Confidant. I hold his lands away with Sinkhole, and theres no contest. Angel for the finish.
Record: 4-1
Round 6 - UBg Aggro Control/Team America
This was, I thought, the key game, because I wasn’t expecting anyone with 2 losses, to go to the top 8. Depressingly, I got run over very fast. Both games were quite similar. He gets Goyf and Tombstalker online too fast, and he manages to keep me off mana to produce effective plays in time. It felt like a really tough matchup, with beaters larger than mine, and stuff like Daze that combined with landdestruction, really hurts. I boarded in RoP, and maybe I should have mulled for it, but my opening hand game 2 seemed quite good.
Record: 4-2
Round 7 – UG Painter combo/Goyf
This last game I was playing against a friendly guy I know – and I thought he was playing Stiflenought. Maybe he was, but I never saw any. We chose to play competetively, since we had heard that there was a remote possibility for one of us to go on. First game I can’t really remember, but I can see that he conceded at around 14, so I probably had his ressources down. I remember having something like SDT, Bob, Grunt and Angel ready to swing. Game 2 felt tight. He threw out an early Grindstone, which I hadn’t seen game 1 at all. He put down a Goyf an started beating, while producing lands. On my side I had a Confidant online, and started to find answers, such as an EE on 2 that was also keeping his Painter from the table. At some point I exploded the EE, because the Goyf was giving me trouble, while wasting a land, so he couldnt play Painter and mill. I had a Vindicate in hand, and drew into a STP, so from there I had it sealed. As far as I remember, he played 3 Goyfs, after I exploded the first – here RoP really shined. Angel made the actually win happen.
Record: 5-2 (I was the only one with 15 pts to qualify for the top 8)
Quarter – BGW Rock
In the quarter I met the guy with the 7-0 record, and a lot of very good tournament results to his name (Peter Steinaa if you’re curious). He actually continued his record and won the tournament in 10-0 style.
This was obviously gonna be tough, but it also alleviated some of the stress, to be in the absolute underdog position (me being reasonably new to tournaments).
First game was great for me. I lost the die roll, but Sinkholed his Treetop Village in my first turn, and wasted his next land, and from then on he never really recovered, and I finished it pretty fast, with two Confidants and an Angel. I made my first big mistake of the tournament here though, as I forgot to draw my normal card, after getting two from the two Confidants – this gave me a judge warning only, to my relief. After the first game I sided in only RoP, because a lot of his wins are due to Eternal Witnesses and Volraths Stronghold – and they are the key cards that make his deck superior to mine in the long games.
Game two I was looking at a hand with one fetch or Scrubland, a Chrome Mox, and lots of 2cc gas. He was to start, so I was a bit afraid of Thoughtseize, but I took the chance and kept the hand. Which I shouldn’t have done… He took the Mox on his first turn, and I was on my heels from that point on. Lost the game fast from there.
Game 3, properly spooked by game 2, I looked at a hand with a couple of Wastelands, 1 Hymn, and assorted lands too round it up. Even though I was to start, it felt too weak to trust, so I mulliganed. Catching 6 nonland cards, I mulliganed again, and found the best I could have hoped for; Scrubland, Thoughtseize, Hymn, Sinkhole and Wasteland I think. This gave me a fighting chance, but I still found myself on my heels throughout, and I lost after some time, which seemed inevitable most of the way.
A great day all in all with good people, drinking beer and wine the night before, talking about stuff that matters and having fun. Furthermore, encouraging much future tournament participation from my part.
The top 8 consisted of:
Deadguy (Me)
Zoo
MUC
Merfolks
Zoo (Semi)
Survival (Semi)
Rock (Winner)
Thresh (Runner-up)
Some post scriptum thoughts on the decklist and such:
Would’ve enjoyed the fourth Swords to Plowshares, instead of one Gerrards Verdict. Relic of Progenitus was nice to have as a versatile Goyf/Grave-hate, instead of Tormods Crypt and Leyline of the Void.